Corner Canyon boys volleyball places fifth at state tournament

The Corner Canyon High boys volleyball team placed fifth at the Utah Boys Volleyball Association state tournament May 11–12 hosted on the Chargers’ home court.

By Catherine Garrett | c.garrett@mycityjournals.com

The Corner
Canyon High boys volleyball team hosted the Utah Boys Volleyball Association
(UBVA) state tournament May 11–12 and placed fifth, led by sophomore outside
hitter Tytan Pace and sophomore libero Zane Minnick.

“This
year’s team was largely made up of sophomores and only two returning varsity
veterans — Zane Minnick and (sophomore setter) Gavin Penrod — who played on
last year’s third place CCHS team as freshmen,” said assistant coach Dan Penrod.
“The future is very bright for CCHS boys volleyball.”

The
Chargers finished second in pool play the first day of the state tournament and
then defeated North Sanpete 25-18, 25-21 to start the second day. A 17-25,
14-25 loss to Herriman put them in the fifth-place match against Pleasant Grove
which Corner Canyon won 25-16, 25-18.

During the
tournament, Pace led offensively with 55 kills with Gavin Penrod recording 98
assists running the offense. Defensively, Minnick had 56 digs and sophomore
middle blocker Will Yeomans led the Chargers with 15 blocks.

“Although
this team is young, they can play with the best teams in the state,” Dan Penrod
said.

The
Chargers finished the regular season in the Salt Lake County league as the
third-place team and came into the state tournament as the fifth seed from the
region playoffs.

Boys
volleyball has been played throughout the state the past 20 years, but the UBVA
was formed just three years ago and is following the exponential growth the
sport is enjoying nationwide.

“Our goal
was to work together to grow boys volleyball,” UBVA president Jill Davis said.
“We have been successful in bringing leadership, organization and growth to the
existing boys volleyball community. We continually strive to help it be a more
legitimate and formally recognized experience for the many boys here who love
to play. We have seen incredible response and success since UBVA’s inception.”

The sport
has also been evolving into a year-round deal with a fall club season held and
nine club options statewide for participants to choose from. The numbers
continue to grow each year, which is also helping the high school spring season
expand to more than 60 teams this season.

Currently,
the boys sport is not sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities
Association, but discussions with UHSAA have taken place and Davis is “hopeful
our local school administrators will begin to recognize the value of it as a
viable athletic option for their students.”

Davis
noted that nearly all of the 149 schools in the state have girls volleyball.
“It’s obviously a very popular and welcome sport in the state,” she said. “And,
anyone who has ever seen boys play at a competitive level know it is a very
different and exciting game to watch, so we are hopeful the culture of boys
volleyball will continue to build and become more accepted and supported by our
community at large.”

“Volleyball is just a great game. It is truly a team sport, truly a
mental exercise, and truly a challenge to master,” Davis said. “If you play
competitively, you begin to appreciate many incredible technical nuances that
are involved; for example, the slight angle of a hand will make or break a good
pass, set, block or hit which can result in either you gaining a point or
giving one away. And, of course, that all has to be decided and accomplished in
a fraction of a second — sometimes while you are floating in mid-air.”

Davis said what lies ahead for boys volleyball in the state will be
determined, in large part, to UBVA’s “ability to accommodate the current growth
and interest.” “We truly hope the future sees all boys high school volleyball
teams in Utah enjoying a healthy presence within their own schools — whether
merely using the gyms for practices and games as a club sport or as a
full-fledged sanctioned sport with total school support."